Denise had visited Athens in 1964 and had memories of a coach tour to the Acropolis with Beatles songs playing in the background. Remember Eight Days a Week?!!
Porch of the Caryatids (Denise Photo from 1964. We had a nicer day.)
We chose to join a Cunard tour here and while we are now sure that we are not big tour people, in Athens this worked, as viewing the Akropolis was part of a group effort with at least 25 tour guides and buses at the same time. No way to get far from the madding crowd. Also Athens was basically closed for the Orthodox Easter weekend, so options were limited anyway.
We stopped first at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
The honor guard performs an interesting, slow motion, drill.
Our first view of the Acropolis.
We fought our way up onto the hill in company with all the other tour guides speaking various languages and bus loads of tourists from all over the world. All seemed to concentrate on the Parthenon and it was impossible to hear anything! The Parthenon was finished in 432BC and dedicated to the goddess Athena, the patron of Athens. Considerable renovation is being undertaken on the site to stabilize it and give a better idea of how it looked. It is fascinating to see the new column pieces waiting to be put into place.
We managed to escape the crowds on the rear side, where there is a view over the city of Athens towards the port of Piraeus. We could admire the Queen Elizabeth in the distance.
We also managed some photos without the hordes near the Erectheion, an ancient temple to Athena and Poseidon built around 406 BC. Supporting part of the roof are the famous Caryatids, or female figures as supporting columns. All are replicas as the originals are kept away from the corrosive air of Athens in the Acropolis Museum. One original can be seen in the British Museum, as it was appropriated by Lord Elgin, along with the Parthenon marbles, back in the 19th century.
Compare with Denise’s 1964 photo, note that the steel supports are gone.
We then took advantage of free time and wandered the streets before finding a café, where we could sit outside and enjoy a sandwich.
A little more wandering and then back to the ship.
Taking on Fuel from a Lighter
DiploStrat 
Wow..!
My name is William and my mother is Kandy. She was Heather and Trevor’s babysitter in Monrovia, Liberia (1985) and, she has been trying to locate you for the past 26 years.
Congratulations on your retirement and thanks for uploading the memorable photos. I was a kid but I vividly remember that Blazer truck because you used it to bring us food/groceries to our house in Sinkor.
Please contact me using the email address below. All of us, most especially my mother, would love to reconnect with you — she is already very excited to see your pictures on this website. We are in the US and are still in touch with The Pielemeiers.
Hope to hear from you,
~William
bcoop1@gmail.com
Will be in touch soon.